Yo!
Have I misjudged what's going on?
I've been following the "user" topic with interest, and from where I stood it looked like some good too & fro banter. The windsurfing fraternity have always been solid in their conviction and not bothered by pimps, trolls or kiters.
Theres no wind, and I saw it as everybody having fun?
However ... some have written that it's not fun!
Your thoughts? I'm absolutely committed to keeping this a great forum to visit! 
Laurie, I can't but help think that it has progressed to the stage where it is not fun. It may have started off as light hearted banter but I think that it may have developed to the stage where it has become a bit personal. Looking at it purely from one side of the fence if you constantly get told that you are an old fart and what you do is crap then the natural reaction is to respond in kind. This can lead to an escalation of "insults" where it is no longer fun. I think we could all take a step back and remember that there are actually people involved and that offense could be had on both sides. I think we could all afford call it quits.
Frant
Well I'll go first.
I see my post in the "avatar for LUser" thread was deleted, so OK sorry for the pen1s head pic, the questionable activities with sheep and so on.
Yes we tolerate trolls and so on here (more so than other forums) and we sledge each other something cruel which is great (yanks etc just can't get it) ... all in good fun and nobody complains. Partly cos it is an Aussie thing to call yoru mates interesting names, but also it is a small-ish sport. If you had, for example, a surfing only forum with 30,000 members, based in Perth but with many many eastern states members there would be a lot less sledging etc as there is always a few whiners who threaten to sue somebody etc.
Perhaps blatant trolls like "kiting is better than windsurfing" or vice versa ... or some of the classic Brucie stuff.... should be deleted. A couple more moderators Laurie? But not to the point that we lose the fun aspect ... a fine balance needed
and when I think of User.... age limits for members please.... 
damn by the time I typed that and removed the expletives when I referred to User.. I was no longer first
WTF ????
I was having fun!
However I have not even posted for ages !
There seem to be some here that are working themselves into a frenzy,but its all in their mind !
For instance Frant says "if you constantly get told that you are an old fart and what you do is crap"
???? Where did this come from ? Certainly not from me !
Chill out dudes! IT'S NOT REAL !!!!!! Go kiting Windsurfing !
I agree with Frant that it's all got a bit personal, a bit like the kiter was down and us poleys were taking advantage and kicking the boots in. But he kept bouncing back up. I'd ask user if he's taken offence at the thread, if he has then delete it, if not, then ..."ready to rumble!"
Personally, I think User has injected a bit of fun (forgive the pun).
He seems to take it all in his stride and doesn't seem to have a bad bone in his body.
It's a bit of light relief in a time when the season has ended (in Sydney anyway). If anyone has any reason to be offended, its User.
I'm with Frant - it might've been fun to start with, but it degenerated. I stopped bothering to read it at about page 4 somewhere.
Nothing against a bit of jovial elbow in the ribs banter, but there needs to be a clear line somewhere, and someone to shoot firmly speak to the trespassers. (Which laurie has now done apparently)
As far as I can tell, user was little more than an excited little boy throwing stones at the 'crusty old' wasps nest.. to great effect.. and he was smart enough to stay far enough away not to get stung.
I didn't post on the avatar for User thread and on the ragdoll thread i think my last post was " Yawn 
"
I know you (User) use this as a form of entertainment (as in winding people up).I think i've done a fair job of winding the winderer .I watch the forums all day at work and am often bored so i like to keep the active posts going, IE.prevoke the prevoker, and a good debate is great.(WS vs KS is never ending)
It's all in good fun .But it's a forum and there must be lines that shouldn't be crossed in the name of common decency..
PS i do prefer humour over sledging but whatevers happening on the day i will most likley participate[}:)]
I must say that having a light hearted dig at kiting and visa versa is all a bit of harmless fun.
I am not so sure that having a go at individual members is 'fun' even if it is intended that way.
While User seems to take it all in his stride and give as well as he gets, some members may take offence. Things then get said typed in the heat of the moment and then who knows where it can lead.
The other thing to concider is that perhaps new members to the forum wont see it as just a bit of fun and then will be a bit hesitant to participate in case they get on someones bad side.
I would like to apologise for my terrible behaviour.
Funny, to me it was all OK up to the "I was a pro, was sponsored" thing. Having a go and all is OK here, and it seems to be OK with the kid too.
Lying or unsubstantiated claims is not. But that must be me, maybe I'm just a sensitive guy.
Cheers all, good winds.
Personally it seemed a lot less disturbing than Mark's Avatars. I found it amusing at first but quickly lost interest as I'm sure was the case for most.
If some want to continue baiting each other , I see no harm. It keeps them amused during the windless autumn but I suspect most have moved on long ago.
We each need a button that give us an option to blocks out a particular posters posts on our pc and then this information needs to be fed back to the poster who has been blocked(eg your posts have been blocked by Rider5, Backloop, footstrap etc). Therefore if an offensive posters sees that 60 people can not see his posts his ego isn't being rewarded for his comments.
I have to say this,
The escalations come from User stirring the pot and not even trying to be informative or funny, even when he is wrong and knows it, User has done this many times and still gets away with it, we dont need it and it drags the forum down.
My 2c worth.
I don't mind a good sledge, and a clever one gets my respect even if I'm on the receiving end.
But mindless dribble and trolling for the sake of it isn't worth my bandwidth. If I could 'ignore' luser (so his posts didn't show up) then I would gladly do so.
It sounds like some people are not happy with the sledging.
As I have said before, sledging is a favorite Australian pastime for when things get dull and boring, and so long as it's not done spitefully or vindictively then there is no harm in it.
Nobody is immune. You do it to your best mates.
The only areas that are "no go" zones are your wife, your kids, and your dog. (probably in reverse order)
Some of the sledging has an element of truth to it and I sometimes recognise myself in the descriptions. This amuses me more than offends me.
I'm in the group that User and others most commonly sledge, old and well worn, dragging the dregs out of my beaten up old dogs body with a bit of bogging back and forwards on not too wild and windy days.
I'm not offended by it at all. (the sledging that is. I am offended that I am old and worn out but it's still better than the alternative. )
On this forum most of us use screen names, thus when someone is sledged, it is for the most part anonymous.
I would not agree to any serious slandering if it was directed towards a proper named person, but I never see that here.
Consistent with this, I think the thread to find a new avatar for User is one of the funniest I have seen for a long time and unless he is particularly thin skinned, I think he would probably agree.
I can't imagine he is thin skinned because he keeps coming back for another caning.
I agree that many people might get tired of it after a while, but when they do, it's really easy not to click on the heading. It's not like anyone is forced to tune in. There are lots of threads that I have a quick look at and then don't go back to. I suggest they do the same.
It would be a bit sad to find all the forum sanitised to the point of boredom to avoid offence to the overly sensitive.
SUMMARY
Things are fine as they stand so long as the posts are not obviously meant to be spiteful and/or vindictive or directed towards a known person.
Laurie, I think your original assessment;
" I've been following the "user" topic with interest, and from where I stood it looked like some good to & fro banter. The windsurfing fraternity have always been solid in their conviction and not bothered by pimps, trolls or kiters.
There's no wind, and I saw it as everybody having fun?"
is spot on so in my view, leave as is.
Hahahahahah.LOL ! RFLMAO ! etc etc.
Just read Mark's post. Heheheheh!
He states
" The first post from Fast Eddy was simply "this will be on TV here is the link" then a couple of guys basically said wow, that can't be good publicity for kiters.
No insults against kiters at all "
The first post was titled "Kiter RAGDOLLED etc.
The next 4 posts were more along the lines of " I Luuuve this stuff! "
and "funny s*** !
Another classic example of twisting the truth. You are trying to make it sound like " Hey guys ,there is some kitesurfing on telly tonight"
If you are going to bag kiters expect some bagging back !
Sounds like you all need a good session.
Laurie,please put some green arrows on the wind charts !
(We will be happy with some yellow ones !)
